A Modern Take On Pride and Prjeudice
by PeetatheKat
Summary: A twenty first century take on Jane Austen's classic novel. I noticed that there weren't many modern versions of P&P so I thought I would give it a go. Hope you enjoy and please review! xo
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The Bennet's of number 34 Longbourne Road were a dysfunctional family to say the least. Mr Bennet, the only man in a family of seven (apart from the Yorkshire Terrier Cyril) could often be found avoiding the "disturbance" of the six other women he shared the house with in his study located in an extension at the back of their five bedroomed Victorian-style terraced house. There was a silent rule among the Bennet family that their father was not to be disturbed under any circumstances, unless of course, it was essential that he be removed from what he liked to think of as his only place of sanctuary. The morning of the 23rd of May was, in the opinion of his wife, one of those occasions:

"Daniel!" cried Mrs Bennet, knocking forcefully on the office door.

"I have the most wonderful news to tell you!" Reluctantly withdrawing himself from his beloved Sunday crossword, Mr Bennet padded across the room and opened the door. Mrs Bennet looked overwhelmed with excitement, which, as he knew from 21 years of marriage, was not always a good sign.

"What is it dear?" he said, exasperatedly, hoping that he would be back to 'ten across' within a matter of minutes.

"Someone has finally bought the house at Netherfield!". The fact that this was the big news which had dragged him from his peace and quiet was _not_ a particularly welcome fact to Mr Bennet.

"And this affects us, how?" he asked, using his not so recently acquired skill of maintaining a cool exterior even in the face of serious irritation.

"They've agreed to buy the Brewery!"

The Brewery was the cinema come arts centre where Mrs Bennet worked as the leader of the Youth theatre programme and the centres chief manager. Its owners, the Ted and Natalie Coleman, had recently been forced to put it on the market after they became bankrupt due to Ted's gambling addiction, forcing Mrs Bennet and many other employees on the brink of redundancy.

"And you'll never guess who's bought it!" squealed Mrs Bennet,

"Who, darling?"

"Emily Bingley!"

" _Who?_ " asked Mr Bennet, thoroughly confused.

"Oh Danny, don't tease me, you know who I mean. The editor of _Country Life,_ thats who!"

Still unaware of who exactly this woman was, Mr Bennet decided to humour his wife and pursued the matter no further, hoping to finally be left in peace, however this was not the case.

"She has invited the whole family round for a barbecue on Sunday evening as a housewarming party, how exciting! We must go!"

Mrs Martha Bennet had lived her whole life for parties and social occasions and therefore was over the moon to have been invited to the party of such an "exciting individual" as Emily Bingley, editor of her favourite magazine and now her new boss. Up until recently she had had no cause for such excitement and was having withdrawal symptoms. After finally leaving Mr Bennet in peace she decided to inform all of her daughters of her wonderful news, running round the house searching for the three of her five daughters who were actually present at the time. She found 15 year old Lydia and 16 year old Kitty in the living room, lounging on the sofa watching the latest episode of some 'reality TV rubbish' (as their father would call it) both with their thumbs glued to their iPhones.

When they didn't seem particularly interested she trotted through the back garden down to the small shed located by the back gate to find Mary, the middle daughter, who at 18 years old, despaired of her family and spent most of her time writing songs and working out what she was going to protest about next. A hater of all things 'social', Mrs Bennet's attempts to excite were lost on her and so, her mother retreated back to the kitchen to wait for the return of the final two members of the family.

Jane Bennet was twenty one, and was currently studying architecture at the University of Exeter, a university which she had chosen, partly (although privately so as not to offend anyone) on the basis of its distance from Longbourne road. Having finished a couple of days prior to Mrs Bennet's 'wonderful news' she had gone to the station to pick up her younger sister Elizabeth (or Lizzie as she was known to the family) who was returning from Oxford. Of all the members of the family it was Jane and Lizzie who knew how to humour their mother and so, as they made the twenty minute journey back from the station, Mrs Bennet sat and waited, waited for someone to finally take an interest in her most wonderful information.

 ** _The next chapter will be up very shortly, please review and let me know what you think!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Removing her chestnut brown hair from its tie, Elizabeth Bennet stepped onto the platform of the Meryton train station. She had just returned from a pretty awkward goodbye with her _now_ Ex-boyfriend Jonathan and was happy to have escaped from any more potential run-ins with anyone who would ask difficult questions (she had been mentally preparing on the train for the wrath that would ensue when she returned home to a mother who was almost _more_ attached to her daughter's boyfriend than she had been.)

As she made her way through the station to the car park she thought about what this summer would bring. She was now twenty years old, had been studying French and Italian at Oxford now for just over a year and even though she looked older she still felt the same way as she did when first left the claustrophobic confines of Longbourne Road. Spotting the white mini which belonged to her elder sister Jane she forgot her ramblings and strolled over to the car, buzzing with excitement to see her sister.

Jane Bennet was smaller than Lizzie, with soft blonde hair and striking grey eyes. She got out of the car to welcome her sister, whom she hadn't seen for weeks, with a gentle hug.

"Lizzie! Welcome home, I've missed you the past few days! Coping with mum isn't half as hard when you're at home," giggled Jane sliding into the drivers' seat.

"Jane! You've only been back two days and already you can't cope?" said Lizzie getting into the car beside her sister. Jane laughed.

"How have you been anyway?" she asked, pulling out of the station car park.

"How is Jonathan?" Lizzie looked out of the window, trying not to relive the two hour conversation that she _so_ wanted to forget.

"About that…"

"And so, I told him I just couldn't do it anymore," breathed Lizzie, as the car pulled into the driveway of Number 34.

"Well, I think that you've done the right thing," said Jane, trying to reassure her sister.

"It's better to have ended things now than to have lead him on. Your toughest challenge now is going to be telling Mum…"

Lizzie grimaced, her mother was not one to take things lightly.

"Hopefully we'll find something to take her mind off it" she said pulling her suitcase out of the boot and following Jane into the house.

Upon hearing the door close, Mrs Bennet was up and out of the kitchen in a flash. Itching to tell her two eldest daughters her _fabulous_ news, the twenty minute wait had seemed like a lifetime. As soon as she reached the hallway, although she hadn't seen Lizzie for over three weeks, she let go of her information in an extremely excited explosion of noise.

"Girls, girls; wonderful wonderful news! You will never guess who has moved into Netherfield, its the most fabulous news. I couldn't believe it, I tried to tell your father but you know how he is.. Anyway, as I was saying, you will never guess!"

Lizzie sighed, Although at times slightly irritating, she couldn't deny her mother's 'zest' for life was at times quite admirable.

Grabbing each daughter by the arm, Mrs Bennet pulled them both through to the kitchen, sat them down and preceded to inform them of her exciting news.

"So, all seven of us are invited to a barbecue, on sunday, at Netherfield?" asked Lizzie, when her mother had finally divulged her information.

"Yes dear, do try to keep up," said Mrs Bennet exasperatedly, a bit out of breath from her marathon-like chattering.

"and, Anthea told me, that Rita told her that Emily's son and daughter will be there, and their both your ages, isn't that wonderful! Charles, is your age Jane and Caroline the same age as you Lizzie." cried Mrs Bennet, practically falling off her chair with excitement.

"Oh, and one more thing" she cried, her volume gradually rising.

"Charles' friend, James Darcy will be there too. He's at Oxford too Lizzie so I'm sure you'll have lots to talk about. Now there's one for each of you! How exciting!" cried their mother, fanatically.

The two sisters looked at each other knowingly. If there was one thing their mother loved, it was match-making her daughters, no matter how unsuccessful it turned out to be. As Mrs Bennet rambled on, Lizzie thought again about the summer ahead. Perhaps it would be quiet, uneventful and relaxing, she hoped. After the year she'd had that was all she needed…

How wrong she was…

 **Thank you all for the reviews and the follows, keep on reading. I am on holiday at the moment so the new chapters might be a bit slow to start with, but I will do my best! xo**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Sunday afternoon came along and with it brought a very stressed Mrs Bennet. Adamant that her family would behave and look perfect, Martha Bennet had been rushing round the house looking for all five of her daughters and checking that they weren't wearing anything that would "put the family in an unsuitable light". Her latest check was on the youngest of the family, Lydia, who was unfortunately, nowhere to be seen.

"Lydia!" cried Mrs Bennet repeatedly, her voice growing in volume and pitch.

Lizzie, who was in her room enjoying some peace and quiet after the armageddon which had been unleashed when she had told her mother of her recent breakup with Jonathan, was suddenly disturbed as her mother flung open the door and practically fell into the room.

"Lizzie dear, have you seen Lydia, she is nowhere to be seen and we only have an hour before we are expected at Netherfield," gabbled Mrs Bennet, frantically.

Elizabeth Bennet sighed, put down her copy of Camus' 'L'Etranger' and looked at her mother. She was genuinely worried about this barbecue, Lizzie felt a pang of sorrow for her mother, she really did try her hardest to do the very best for her family, and Emily Bingley was her new employer so of course, she had the right to worry.

"No, Mum, I haven't seen her anywhere. Have you asked Kitty? She might know" replied Lizzie, gently. Mrs Bennet thanked Lizzie, then shot off in the direction of Kitty's room, huffing and puffing under her breath about the whereabouts of her youngest daughter.

Lizzie got up off her bed and began to get ready to go out. She put on a white cotton blouse and a pair of blue jeans, let her hair down and did her makeup, thinking all the while about how much she didn't want to go to this barbecue. Although the Bennets were not badly off, they lived in a very wealthy area and therefore, many of the people with whom they socialised, seemed to run in different circles. Therefore, Lizzie knew that this barbecue would play out like all the other barbecues and parties the Bennets had been invited to in the past. They would be surrounded by boys who went to Eton or Harrow, and girls who went to Cheltenham Ladies or Wycombe Abbey, would be pitied for the fact they did not have a villa in the south of France and laughed at discreetly for their family's eight seater VW. Jane and the rest of the family seemed able to cope with it more freely but Lizzie always felt very small whenever she was forced into one of these gatherings and was reluctant to feel like this again.

Suddenly, Lizzie heard the front door slam. Assuming it was Lydia, Lizzie came out of her room and onto the landing. Sure enough, looking down, she saw her fifteen year old sister, wearing something that would definitely "put the family in an unsuitable light" and carrying enough shopping bags to crush a person.

"Lydia!" whispered Lizzie emphatically.

"Where have you been? Mum's gone ballistic! You'll give her a nervous break down!"

"With Denny, of course" replied her sister, proudly.

Jack Denny was Lydia's 'boyfriend', or, more accurately, the boy she was leading on. In the year above her at school, Jack or Denny, as he was known to most people, was absolutely infatuated with the youngest Bennet and consequently took her shopping, out for dinner, or anything else she wished to do, rather frequently.

"Go and get dressed quick!" whispered Lizzie "before mum sees you!"

After sending her sister up stairs and getting her self fully prepared and ready (both mentally and physically) Lizzie walked into Jane's room and sat down on the bed. Jane was just putting the finishing touches to her makeup and turned around as her sister came into the room.

"Nearly ready?" asked Lizzie. Jane nodded and began to apply her lipstick.

"I really don't want to go, you know" said Lizzie forlornly, fiddling with her earrings, which, incidentally had been given to her by Jonathan, two months prior to their break up.

"Oh Liz, you have to. Mum will never forgive you if you don't" said Jane softly.

Lizzie looked out the window as Jane began to put on her jewellery, sometimes her sister was just too accommodating. Hearing Mrs Bennet calling the whole family to arms downstairs, Lizzie and Jane came out of Jane's bedroom and padded down the stairs. Four members of the Bennet family were assembled in the front hall, as though they were cadets being inspected by a sergeant for the quality of their uniform, whilst Mrs Bennet paced up and down, obviously twitchy about their being on time and immaculately turned out.

"Ah, Lizzie, Jane, you're here. We need to leave now so as to be there on time. I don't want Emily thinking that I can't keep time," said their mother, religiously checking her watch.

…

By the time the Bennets arrived at Netherfield, Mrs Bennet was well and truly peeved. The journey had been very eventful and had resulted in the family showing up fifteen minutes late, contrary to Mrs Bennet's aim to arrive exactly on time. Getting out of the family car, Lizzie couldn't help but giggle to see her mother hurrying off towards the front door, wine bottle in one hand and partly crushed flowers in the other. As she went to ring the door bell, a boy with sandy brown hair, a floppy smile and very tanned legs came round the corner carrying a jug of Pimms.

"Hello!" he called "You must be the Bennets,". Mrs Bennet nearly fainted with shock but luckily Mr Bennet managed to step in before she could say anything stupid.

"Yes, thats us" said Mr Bennet warmly, putting his hand out for the boy to shake. "I'm Mr Bennet, thats Mrs Bennet, and these are our daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Katherine and Lydia" Shaking Mr Bennet's hand firmly, the boy flashed a welcoming smile at the girls and began to introduce himself.

"I'm Charlie Bingley, Emily is my mum, nice to meet you all"

"If you follow me, I can show you to the barbecue".

Letting the younger Bennet daughters and their parents through first, Charlie fell into step beside Lizzie and Jane.

"So, you two have been dragged along to this as well" said Charlie, looking directly at Jane.

"Well, I wouldn't say dragged," chuckled Lizzie

"More like, guilt tripped…". Charlie and Jane both laughed.

The girls followed Charlie round the side of the house and into the back garden. The garden was large, like the old victorian mansion to which it was attached, with various alcoves and benches. There were loads of people there, all milling around the barbecue, Lizzie recognised her friend Charlotte in the distance and waved at her to come over.

"Hi Charlotte!" said Lizzie, giving her old friend a hug.

Lizzie and Charlotte had known each other since birth, she was small with cropped brown hair and a freckly nose and a very warm smile and had been Lizzie's closest companion for as long as she could remember.

"Hi Liz! I haven't seen you since you got back, how was Oxford? I see you've both met Charlie," she said smiling at their new acquaintance. Charlie and Jane were deep in conversation, Lizzie couldn't help but notice how much they seemed to like each other, regardless of the fact they had only known each other all of five minutes.

"Have you had a drink yet?" asked Charlotte, taking the jug of Pimms from Charlie, who remained focused on Jane.

"Not yet, but I could really use one!" said Lizzie, following Charlotte to a table near the barbecue with glasses and cutlery on it.

Charlotte poured Lizzie a glass of Pimms, turned round and leant on the table.

"So," she said, knowingly

"What happened with Jonathan?"

 **Thank you for all the follows, reviews and favourites. I am trying to keep it as close to the book as possible but let me know if you have any suggestions. Keep reading and next chapter you will meet (Mr) James Darcy! xox**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Jonathan and Lizzie had got together within the first month of University. Jonathan was in his second year, and was an avid member of the debating society which Lizzie had also joined. After a rather heated debate on the subject of Euthanasia, Jonathan made the first move and asked the fiery, confident fresher who had just beaten him in a debate (a rare occasion) out to dinner. Their's was a whirlwind romance but it was not to last. Lizzie, having never had a proper boyfriend in her life, was not used to the full time nature of a relationship, and, being the independent person that she was, did not enjoy Jonathan's constant demands for attention and the fact he wanted to spend every waking hour by her side. He was a great guy, got on with her family, took her out for lovely meals and was very much a part of her social circle, but he was _much_ more into the relationship than she was and by the end of the year Lizzie could take it no longer. He was lovely, but Lizzie just felt they weren't really compatible, and were probably better off as friends.

So, after thinking it out, Lizzie broke up with Jonathan the night before the end of year ball. It was the most painful two hours of her life. Jonathan kept asking why she was doing this, and came to the delusional conclusion that it was because she had found someone else and had cheated on him. After trying to explain numerous times that this was not the case, the pair parted ways on pretty bad terms, with Jonathan storming out and Lizzie wondering whether she had done the right thing.

"And I haven't seen him since," she told Charlotte, exhausted from recounting the story for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Oh Liz, what a shame" said her friend, squeezing her arm.

"Everyone thought he was so lovely, and that you were perfect together". Lizzie sighed, she ultimately felt relieved. As much as she had liked Jonathan, she just wasn't ready for that type of relationship, she wanted to focus on her studies without any other added distractions.

"I know, I know, Mum was gutted" she said, looking over at her mother who was deep in conversation with Charlotte's mother, Jackie Lucas. Charlotte beckoned Lizzie closer,

"Have you met the people behind me?" she whispered, changing the subject as she knew Lizzie didn't want to about it anymore. Lizzie looked at the group of people behind Charlotte, there were two boys and two girls stood in a circle by the stone water feature which was placed in the centre of the Bingley's garden. The two girls were evidently twin sisters, both had striking ginger hair, green eyes and freckles however one was shorter than the other with a more rounded figure and face, whilst the other was tall and slender. Although their figures were different they both shared the same expression, it was as if they had both smelt something utterly disgusting and were turning their noses up at it. Lizzie instantly disliked them both.

The shorter of the two sisters was clutching the arm of a short, stocky guy, evidently a rugby player, with a very glazed over expression and a pretty squashed nose from years of being pushed around in various scrums. Lizzie's eyes travelled to the other guy in the group. He was quite tall, with dark hair and dark features. He was wearing a light blue shirt tucked into chinos and some obviously expensive loafers. Lizzie might have found him attractive if he hadn't looked like this was the last place in the world he wanted to be.

"That's Charlie Bingley's sisters, Caroline and Louisa. Caroline is the taller one, and Louisa is the one clutching onto that guy. Thats her fiancé, Pete Hurst, he's a professional rugby player. As you can probably tell.." said Charlotte laughing.

"Who's the guy with the scowl?" said Lizzie, looking at Charlotte teasingly.

"That's James Darcy," said Charlotte, evidently finding him very attractive, unlike her best friend.

"He's at Oxford too you know, Liz. Surprised you haven't come across him.." said Charlotte quizzically.

"He's Charlie's best friend and is staying with them for a few weeks. He's gorgeous don't you think. His dad's the CEO of some mega company in London, he'll inherit millions plus a really grand house in Derbyshire. Quite a catch really if you're into that sort of thing, but I think Caroline has her eyes on him" she giggled as the pair looked over and saw the taller of the two sisters blatantly trying to flirt with him, and putting her hand seductively on his arm. The two girls looked at each other and laughed, they hated girls who always threw themselves at guys in such an obvious way.

After talking about their plans for summer for a while Charlotte put her cup down on the table.

"I'll be back in a sec Liz, just going to check dad isn't doing anything too embarrassing," said Charlotte, hurrying off towards the house. Lizzie turned back to the drinks table and couldn't help but laugh to herself. What was she doing here, she thought. She would much rather be back at Oxford with her friends, who, compared to this lot, were much more grounded. As she poured herself a drink, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see her sister, Jane, standing with Charlie Bingley and the group of people about whom, she had been talking about minutes earlier.

"

Lizzie, you've met Charlie," said Jane, smiling.

"These are his sisters, Louisa and Caroline". The pair smiled sweetly at Lizzie, but she felt as though she could see right through them.

"Nice to meet you," they said in unison.  
"This is Louisa's fiancé, Pete". Pete nodded at Lizzie. He was obviously a man of few words.

"And this, is James Darcy, he's at Oxford too!" chimed Jane, smiling at her sister.

Darcy held out his hand, which Lizzie took, she noticed he had a very firm handshake.

"Pleasure" he growled, fixing Lizzie with a particularly off-putting stare.

"Darcy and I were friends at school," said Charlie, patting his friend on the back.

"Known each other for years!" he said, grinning at Jane. Lizzie noticed he had taken a particular shine to her sister.

"He's practically part of the family, aren't you James" drawled Caroline Bingley, with a sly look at Lizzie, she sickeningly touched Darcy's arm. Lizzie looked up, James Darcy was staring at her. She couldn't quite read his expression but she could tell it was probably because he couldn't stand the idea of being associated with people of the Bennet's circle, far too ordinary. Lizzie stared back and he looked away. Although it wasn't obvious, Lizzie could see he tensed slightly. Probably with disgust, she thought, disliking him more and more.

"So, what are you studying?" she asked him pointedly.

"Economics" he replied, not meeting her eye. Lizzie thought him quite odd.

"That must be challenging, I have to say I would find it rather boring. I never did get on with numbers" laughed Lizzie. She seemed to have offended Darcy, who quickly turned to Charlie. "Charles, I think we should check on the barbecue. The food should be ready by now"

The two boys walked off, with Charlie telling Jane he would ' _definitely'_ see her later and Darcy completely ignoring them both as he stalked towards the barbecue. Lizzie could tell exactly the type of guy James Darcy was, he was a snobbish, proud and prejudiced type of guy and she wished to have nothing to do with him. Therefore, she resolved to ignore him for the rest of the barbecue.. a task which proved quite tricky…

 **Read part two of the barbecue in the next chapter which will be up ASAP, keep reading everyone. I'm sorry if I have left anything important out. Please DM or Review me with any suggestions for the rest of the story. Hope you are enjoying it as much as I am xo**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

"Your mother seems to be enjoying herself" sneered Caroline, looking over at Mrs Bennet who was loudly giggling at one of Henry Lucas' jokes. Elizabeth smiled sweetly at Caroline, she was gradually realising how little she was warming to Caroline Bingley.

"Yeah, she's been looking forward to it all week.." drawled Lizzie, "too bad the food is taking so long or I'm sure she would be enjoying it more" she said, making a direct dig at Caroline.

After ten minutes of the Bingley sisters trying to make polite conversation (or what they thought was polite conversation) with the Bennet sisters, and their inviting Jane to their house for an afternoon of riding and dinner in the evening (Lizzie maintained she hated horses, but rather hated the company), Charlie and James returned. Lizzie found herself face to face with the tall, and irritated looking Darcy. As Jane seemed to be deep in conversation with Charlie and the Bingleys in a world of their own, (probably commenting on how _last season_ everyone seemed) Lizzie had no choice but to _attempt_ to make conversation, however, she found that Darcy got in there first.

"I'm correct in saying that you go to Oxford as well, right?" he asked.

"What school were you at before, Cheltenham Ladies, Wycombe Abbey?"

Lizzie sighed inwardly, she knew this was coming. She had been confronted with Darcy's type on numerous occasions.

"Oh I went to St Stephens." she said, smiling her most sickly sweet smile.

"Don't think I've heard of St Stephens, where is it?" asked James, inquisitively.

"Just down the road from here, in Meryton"

Darcy looked puzzled.

"I didn't know that there was a private school in Meryton"

Lizzie laughed out loud. 'Here we go again' she thought.

"Oh.. St Stephens isn't a private school! Just a good old comprehensive, there's nothing wrong with that, is there James?" she laughed, looking right at Darcy who, although had not gone red, seemed embarrassed in his own snobbish way.

He didn't reply, but rather moved on to speaking to Caroline about some polo match which had taken place a few days earlier. Lizzie rolled her eyes and walked over to speak to Charlotte who was again, stood by the drinks table.

"You will not believe that James Darcy" Lizzie snarled.

"What a snob! I'd be surprised if he didn't even know state schools existed before this evening! What an arse!" Lizzie was very vocal in her opinion of people she did not like. Charlotte laughed, she was used to outbursts like this from her best friend.

"Oh Liz, give him a chance. You've only just met the guy and already you hate him?" said Charlotte calmly.

"I think he seems nice, he might just take a bit of getting used to? Plus, he really is very fit"

"Lottie, you're outrageous!" cried Lizzie laughing as they made their way through the garden.

They sat down on a bench in the back corner which was surrounded by neatly preened bushes. To anyone stood on the other side of the bush they could not be seen or heard, but by some strange coincidence, they could hear everything being said on the other side, where James Darcy and Charlie Bingley just happened to be deep in conversation.

"Cheer up Darcy, you've had a face like thunder all evening and there are some cracking girls here" said Charlie. Lizzie suppressing a giggle motioned to Charlotte to listen in.

"I wouldn't say they were ' _cracking'_ Charles, and anyway, you've been talking to the only decent looking one all night." said Darcy his true snobbery shining through. Lizzie looked at Charlotte as if to say 'I told you so'. Charlotte shook her head.

"Who? Jane?" asked Charlie

"She's great isn't she. Caroline's invited her over next week, what a catch! She's gorgeous! But her sister, Elizabeth, she's not bad either! You should talk to her, she seems really clever, right up your street then!"

Charlotte nudged the blushing Lizzie, who was trying not to look like she cared about Darcy's response.

"Well then Charles, you have me down all wrong. Although Elizabeth is not _bad_ looking, she's definitely not _my_ type. Far too loud." said Darcy, making Lizzie once again try hard to suppress a giggle.

"Suit yourself then." said Charles.

"Oh look, I think mum wants us to help hand out the food, come on". The two boys walked away leaving Lizzie and Charlotte finally free to release their giggles.

"Now do you believe me Lottie! Darcy is the last person in the world I would ever want to even be remotely friends with and I think he's made his position perfectly clear" cried Lizzie.

The rest of the barbecue ran pretty smoothly with Jane and Charlie becoming more and more engrossed in each other as the night went on, Caroline, Darcy and the rest of the host party seeming far less interested with the rest of the guests as they had initially been, Kitty and Lydia meeting more young men than the rest of their sisters combined and gaining numerous friend requests, and Mrs Bennet making firm friends with Emily Bingley whom the whole family agreed was perfectly lovely, unlike her two high nosed daughters.

When they got in Jane came to Lizzie's room.

"So, what did you think of them all?" asked Jane quietly. Lizzie could tell what she really wanted to know was what did she think of Charlie.

"Well, _Charlie_ was lovely," she began.

"He seemed to really like you, you were inseparable for pretty much the whole night!" said Lizzie winking at her sister who went a light shade of pink at the mention of Charlie's name.

"Can't say the same about his sisters though, and don't get me started on Darcy!

After filling her sister in on what she and Charlotte had heard, Lizzie came to the conclusion that she would avoid James Darcy as much as possible.

"But Lizzie, surely you can't judge him that harshly when you've only just met him." said Jane, always the mediator.

"Maybe he just said all of that to get Charlie off his back"

"I doubt it, he seemed pretty certain about how he felt. Guys like that just aren't worth my time" said Lizzie, getting into bed as Jane went to the door.

"I hope things work out for you and Charlie though Jane, I haven't seen you that comfortable with anyone for a long time."

"Me too Liz, Me too" said Jane, closing Lizzie's door.

 ** _Sorry I haven't written for a while guys, I've been so busy! Thank you for all the suggestions and reviews, I have taken them into account, but keep them coming. Thanks for sticking with AMTOPP! New chapter will be up sooner, I promise._**

 ** _PTK xo_**


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